the. -- suggests. the president said the cuts are already being felt. >> families are preparing to cut back on expenses. >> reporter: but some republican governors aren't buying it. >> i think it is possible to cut less than 3% of the federal budget without causing devastating consequences. >> reporter: they say the president is using scare tactics. >> senate democrats and senate republicans are expected to introduce separate bills to avoid the budget cuts. >> but both bills seem unlikely to pass. house republicans say they're waiting on the senate. as monika just told us earlier this morning, it could be very slow going on the beltway southbound in prince george's county for a couple more hours. the two right lanes and the shoulder are closed after a double tractor-trailer crashed through a sound barrier last night. it landed on its side in the woods trapping the driver. emergency crews were able to cut him out of the cab. he suffered serious but nonlife

threatening injuries. >> the cab is crushed. he's lucky to be alive. >> hazmat crews were called in to clean of the diesel fuel spill. the trailer is still there and it's taking officials time to unload it. seven teenagers have been shot and killed just since august in prince george's county. police say, though, the investigations in several of these cases are making some progress now. police have a man in custody in the marckel ross student killed on his way to school. police say ballistic shows that bennett was the -- travon bennett was the suspect in the ross case as well. a student is charged with shooting another student with down syndrome. the victim missed more than two months of school while recovering from his injuries. the judge has declared a mistrial in the jason scott

murder case. scott is accused of killing dolores dewitt and her daughter. the testimony that he was linked to several cases in the area, the attorney did not want that linked to this murder case. last night a state of emergency town hall was held because a community wants to stop the violence before it starts. debra alfarone was there. >> reporter: 350 people came here to the suitland community center tonight to talk about ways to stop the violence that's been plaguing prince george's county streets. >> today i'm hoping at the end of this conversation... >> reporter: when a town hall meeting is standing room only, the problem has hit home. after a senseless and bloody few months, these hundreds of people and these leaders hope the tipping point has come. >> we have had an increase of 300% in crime solver tips and

that's tremendous. >> reporter: several radio stations organized this. radio personality and actor ann juan glover -- anjuan glover has been shot himself. tiffany white is an educator at a prince george's county middle school. >> we need to do intervention now to make sure they don't drop out of high school. i came to the school three years ago and some of the kids that i see when i first started have dropped out already. >> reporter: she says everyone plays a part. >> this is a caring community. it is. and our resolve grows stronger every day. >> that was debra alfarone reporting. if you have any information,

you're asked to please call and give a tip at 1-866-411-tips. one out of three teenagers will experience some sort of violence in a dating relationship at some point. tomorrow night debra has a heartbreaking story and the signs you need to know to help save a life in that situation. prince george's county police also announced an arrest in the murder of an elderly woman in capitol heights. james alfonso ward is accused of killing geraldine mcintyre. the 71-year-old woman was stabbed to death in her home on chapel oaks drive on february 9. investigators believe ward had been helping mcintyre around the house and that robbery was the motive in this. they say ward stole her flat screen tv and a dvd player and that break in the case came when police found the stolen television. in one of his last acts before stepping down as pope, pope benedict xvi has changed some important rules.

cardinals will be allowed to gather earlier to select a successor. they will not have to wait 15 days after the pontiff retires on thursday. they want to select a new pope in time for easter week. 4:35 now. today marks the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of trayvon martin. the teen was gunned down in central florida as he was walking to his father's fiance's home. the manual accused of killing him -- the man accused of killing him goes on defense trial but he says it's self- defense. stocks dropping like a lead ball because of what's going on in italy. >> yahoo employees are told to come to work or get out. >> we'll have a dry morning commute. then things go downhill. howard will have the timeline and his weather first forecast

welcome back. 4:38. we have a dry morning for you. pack the rain gear and the patience because the ride home is going to be wet. it could be rather slow. we'll get into the mid-40s today. going to be some sleet and freezing rain in the mountains out west, especially above a thousand feet. this rain could be heavy at times. i'll tell you about the advisories that are in effect and when things are going to get a little bit better when i see you in a few minutes. over to monika now with timesaver traffic. an ongoing situation on the inner loop of the beltway in prince george's county. that's southbound 495 here at good luck road where a double tractor-trailer was on its side since 11:00 last night and work continues on this cleanup with a crane now set up there as well. you can see that with the right side of the road getting by. blocked there. two left lanes are blocked. if you're planning to head into

southeast d.c., suitland park is closed with another accident. i'll details on how to get around that in my next report. time for the first your money segment of the morning. >> let's say good morning to jessica doyle. i love pizza but not fond of italy this morning. >> what can you do. pizza anyway is an american staple and they just stole it from us. as for wall street, we're hoping to steal back some of the stock losses we had yesterday. maybe bounces back from the biggest sell-off since november. investors concerned about political deadlock following elections that could undermine the country's efforts to reform its economy. the dow once down by 216 points. nasdaq down by 45 and s&p 500 down by 27 points. ben bernanke will testify before the u.s. senate banking committee. investors are going to be watching if he gives any further indications about how long the fed intends to keep providing economic stimulus. also, you should expect new

reports today about consumer confidence and the housing market. in the meantime, the government started to sell the rest of its stake in general motors. in a report to congress, the treasury department says it sold more than $156 million worth of jm stock last month. the -- g.m. stock last month. the report says the government has recovered 29 of its nearly $46 billion bailout of g.m. regulators are deciding whether to investigate a complaint about steering failure on the toyota prius. annual automotive laboratory in virginia asked for the investigation after a client's car was found to have the steering column not installed correctly. and yahoo employees have been put on notice. come into work or quit. according to internal memo leaked by "the wall street journal"'s all things d blog,

employees who work remotely full-time will have to start showing up at the office by june. the tech company says the move is to increase communication and collaboration. the decision is the latest by c.e.o. marissa mayer to turn around the ailing company. yahoo is not commenting on this policy change. >> i guess the rationale behind it is look, we get more productivity and we can be creative together. >> absolutely. yahoo is trying to stay in business essentially right now. though a lot of people say this is a big blow to the efforts to telecommute in america. >> there were a few op-eds written saying look, technology let's us do it. we should do it. >> but we also complain about the human touch being left out with technology so this is a way to bring that communication face to face. >> it will be interesting as people -- to see if people can change their lives around to accommodate that. still ahead, an interesting twist on gun control.

>> wusa9 found a town where every household is required by law to own a gun. we'll have that story for you

hello and welcome back to wusa9. 4:44. dry now but howard says things are going downhill and the time line? >> probably about lunch time or just after here in d.c. down toward culpeper maybe by 10:00 there the rain will be moving in from the southwest to the northeast. going to baltimore, could be 1:00, 2:00 up that way but it's going to be a wet ride home. a slow ride home and some of the rain could be moderate to even locally heavy at times. so consider that. out west, a little bit of sleet and freezing rain in the higher elevations above a thousand feet. we have advisories there. here's your day planner. we start dry. clouds are already here. 41 by 11:00. some showers and we got the intermittent rain because south and west of d.c., even d.c.,

1:00'ish would be raining. we're all going to be wet this afternoon with 44 by 3:00 and 45 at 5:00 with a high around 46 degrees. and increasing winds. wintry weather one part of the equation. look at all the advisories. that's an ice storm warning around elkins. they could get a third of an ink of freezing rain and that -- of an inch of freezing rain and that could cause power outages. watches and advisories from new york to pennsylvania. the warnings is a combination of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. big storm is actually coming out of kansas and oklahoma. i saw 21-inch snow totals in the texas panhandle. 15 in wouldward, oklahoma. -- wouldward, oklahoma. we're seeing sprinkles and showers in north carolina just getting into southwest virginia. the problem here in the metro will be the rains. 1 to 2 inches. everybody in green the entire

metro through northern fauquier county, frederick, prince george's county, anne arundel and montgomery all under a flood watch from 3:00 to midnight. again, one to two inches of rain possible by late tonight. 29 this morning in springfield. 26 in germantown. if this were only snow. 32 in annapolis. manassas this morning is 25 along with nokesville and round hill. outside all is quiet so no real weather problems except a chill this morning. got a temperature of 33 at reagan national under the clouds. feels like 28 with a northeast wind at 6 miles an hour. and that humidity is going to be rising. 75% now but rain on the way. here's the big picture of that storm which is spinning now pulling out of oklahoma into kansas and missouri and now into illinois with the heavy snow. on the warm side of life, we have a tornado watch across parts of the florida panhandle as the showers and storms are lifting north out of georgia into tennessee and south carolina. and this is what will be coming here a little bit later today. let me show you some of the ice

potential. that's going to be the problem. again noontime on is rain but some of the ice in the mountains, you're talking upwards of half an inch, three- quarters of an inch. even if we get half an inch of ice that would be some big time problems out there. east of the blue ridge no problems. so a yellow alert today for the afternoon rain and the winds are going to gust to 30 at times. mid-40s. we don't drop off much tonight. tomorrow we'll clear out pretty early so it's going to be a mild day. 55 to 60. then we get colder on thursday with a passing sprinkle or flurry, 49. the chill gets worse as we head toward the weekend, 44 by saturday. only 42 on sunday and 40 on sunday. so a chilly start to the month of march coming in like a lion. on the inner loop of the beltway over at good luck road in prince george's county, since 11:00 last night, we've had a double tractor-trailer on its side. the driver had to be extricated. we were just told he's now in

stable condition so that's good news. the accident activity on the inner loop remains. if you're planning to head there, you can see the activity remains. two right lanes are blocked. two left lanes get you by. this is the southbound side of 495 in prince george's county and right now the vowms are light -- volumes are light if you'ren early morning commuter. but it will get heavy if that accident remains there. they hope to have to completely on the shoulder by 5:00. let's go back to the maps. another accident, this time on the suitland parkway completely blocked with a truck accident between first sterling avenue and stanton road. i looked it up on the map. the best thing is to take martin laoser king or morris road over to howard road to south capitol street. that will get you over the anacostia river just fine but suitland parkway that could create a mess. it's completely blocked between first sterling and stanton road. a live look at 14th street bridge. no issues to report across the potomac river. back to you guys. >> thanks, monika. the storm that dumped

record amount of snowfall on texas and oklahoma hofd into kansas. -- moved into kansas. at least two deaths are already blamed on this stream. drivers were stranded on roads as up to a foot fell very quickly some some places and heavy rain and thunderstorms and the possibility of tornadoes in the south. congress will move on some of president obama's cabinet appointments dacht the senate is expected to vote this afternoon to end debate on the confirmation for chuck hagel to be the next defense secretary. he is expected to clear the 60- vote hurdle to end debate which means hagel's confirmation will move on to a final vote. and the senate finance committee is expected to approve jack lew to be the next treasury secretary. after that it goes to the full senate for its approval. the man who helped educate the country about aids has died. former u.s. surgeon general c. everett koop passed away at his home in new hampshire. he was 96. dr. koop served under presidents ronald reagan and

george h. w. bush. he is credited for helping to debunk the myths and misconceptions about aids. our time is 4:50. here's an interesting perspective on the gun control debate. wusa9 found a town where every household is required by law to own a gun and the ammunition to use it. this morning andrea mccarren takes us to a community about 25 miles northwest of atlanta that put itself on the map in a most unusual way. >> we don't have shootouts. its a not a wild, wild west. >> reporter: sunrise over this town in georgia reveals a sleepy town of 30,000 and a landscape dotted with flags, american and confederate. >> i can kill somebody with n. i can really do some damage and hurt somebody. >> reporter: carol is a lifelong kennesaw resident. >> if i hear somebody breaking in, this will be loaded and if

they come into my house, they're going to get shot. >> reporter: she's a big supporter of the town's law that requires every household to own a gun. >> why are you go going to break into somebody's house if you know they have guns and could kill you. >> reporter: dense myers is a feisty 82-year-old shop owner with a pair of pistols hollistered to his hip. he is, too, is a staunch defender of the right to own firearms. >> i have the right to eat oatmeal cookies if you want to or chocolate. if you don't want a weapon, don't buy one but don't tell me that i can't. >> reporter: our random survey of kennesaw found unanimous support for the law. >> everybody should be allowed to own one if they want to. >> reporter: the 1982 gunman date was a direct response to a gun ban enacted a year earlier in morton grove, illinois. that was later deemed

unconstitutional. the kennesaw law is still on the books. >> it was not meant to be an enforceable law. the police department never searched homes to make sure you had a gun. it was meant more or less as a political statement. >> reporter: after the law went into effect in 1982, city leadsers say they witnessed a 29% drop in crime. in the 30 years since, the crime rate has remained low, including just four gun related homicides. >> our crime rate is generally less than half the national average. >> reporter: over the years, kennesaw has grown and today amidst the sprawling subdivisions and strip mall, gun control is still a sensitive issue. >> there's a lot of people that are very, very passionate about their right to own a firearm, any kind of a firearm. >> reporter: including an assault weapon? >> yes. >> reporter: as the sun sets on kennesaw, its residents are keeping an eye on the second amendment and how washington interprets it. >> i think if they change it,

they're killing the constitution. >> we have no leaders, no men anymore. they're -- we're a wishy-washy nation and nobody is afraid of us anymore. >> reporter: andrea mccarren, wusa9. >> the homeowners in kennesaw who don't buy a gun are not punished. there are several exemptions including religious objections, if someone is a convicted felon or has a mental illness or can't afford to buy a weapon. you can weigh in on the law by going to our wusa9 facebook page. coming up at 5:50 this morning, council controversy. well very more on the future of a d.c. council member who was reprimanded by his colleagues because of ethics issues. you're watching wusa9. time to look at our question of the morning now. the average married couple spends how much time alone together on a daily basis?

that depends if you have two screaming kids or not. a, two hours, b, 45 minutes, or c, 4 minutes? >> hopefully it's not c. log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during

quiet this morning. it is chilly. 20s and 30s. you'll need a heavy coat but also the rain gear. once we get into the afternoon, the rains will be picking up and the winds will be picking up also as the day wears on with a climb into the mid-40s for highs. looks like it's going to abslow, wet ride home and sleet and freezing rain in the mountains. on the inner loop of the beltway in prince george's county, good luck road, that's south of the bw parkway, work continues on an overnight

tractor-trailer accident. the two left lanes will get you by without delay right now but lots of activity. give them the space they need and it's going to be there for while. another accident in southeast on suitland parkway. i'll have those details in about four minutes. back to you guys. michele owe bam marx the first lady surprised -- michele obama, the first lady, surprised many when she announced an oscar. >> the oscar goes to argo. >> reporter: the camera whipped around to the winners but back in the white house, it is clear who the real star is these days. the first lady's approval rating in our cnn poll two months ago stood at 73%, more than 20 points higher than the president's and a slew of high profile appearances maybe widening the gap. the first lady is in the

spotlight everywhere dancing with jimmy fallon, banderring about her bangs with racheal ray. >> this is my mid life crisis, the bangs. >> reporter: she has lit up twitter with her tweets and she even took a stroll to "sesame street." >> there's so many different activities you can do indoors or outside. >> reporter: talking up healthy eating habits and exercise with big bird. >> get moving. it's good for you. >> reporter: all of this is hardly new except when serious policy matters are at stake as when hillary clinton took on health care. >> health care reform must be achieved for the good of our country. >> reporter: first ladies are generally liked more than their husbands. michele obama, for example, is about as popular as laura bush. still, the headlines swirling around mrs. obama have ruffled some conservative critics who in the past have groused about her trips to europe and expensive clothing and suggest even now she's trying to distract voters from her husband's political struggles.

her award show appearance has only inflamed such talk. a "washington post" blog, quote, it makes both the president and the first lady seem small and grasping. it was just downright weird. >> i hope you all get some rest after last night. we had a good time. >> reporter: but an awful lot of her fans are giving her oscar debut two thumbs up. tomorrow foreman, cnn, washington. good morning. thank you for watching wusa9 at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. happy tuesday. we're glad you're here. it's not so bad now but wait till you see later. good morning, monika. >> she'll be talking about commutes momentarily. >> howard says it's a yellow alert day. >> i'll explain that away. not so much the morning. it's going to be the afternoon and tonight through midnight or so when we'll have some rain and it's going to get heavy at times. west of town we'll have sleet and freezing rain, especially above a